Ironwood Bicycles

The Ironwood bicycle is a wooden framed bike that people could make themselves with commonly available materials. It has a laminated wooden frame and fork to which standard bicycle components are bolted. The frame can be made with basic carpentry and metalwork skills, without the need for welding or soldering. The design is intended for small scale bicycle production that would support local employment as an alternative to importing bicycles from around the world. More: http://www.ironwoodbicycle.com.

Low-tech Magazine Ebook Editions

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Electrical System Guide for DIY Van Conversion

“The electrical system was without a doubt the most daunting task of our DIY camper van conversion. Our goal was to design and build an off-the-grid electrical system that’s safe, reliable, simple, and intuitive (yet no compromises on functionality). After over 4 years of full-time VanLife, we’re happy to report that our system is working flawlessly, nice!”

“Designing and building an electrical system isn’t really straightforward, there are so many concepts to grasp: solar power, alternator charging, shore power, 12 volts, 120 volts, inverter, battery bank, etc. But with our background as engineers and full-time vanlifers, we’re in a good position to make this intimidating task within your reach and help you put the pieces together with the following guide!”

Read more: Electrical System Guide for DIY Van Conversion.

Fruit Trenches in Hungary

Image: Works on Badacsony (Badacsony 1952). [Read more…]

Pedal-Powered Grain Mill

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Life Cycle Assessment of 2022 Laptop

Laptop manufacturer Framework commissioned Fraunhofer IZM to do a detailed life cycle analysis on their Framework Laptop 13, which is designed to be upgradeable, repairable, and customizable. The functional unit used in the study is the use of this notebook over 5 years. Although the laptop is modular and repairable, no product failure and thus no repair was assumed. The configuration was assumed to include 16 GB of memory, 256 GB of storage, and two expansion cards with USB-A and USB-C connectors.

Unfortunately, the researchers only calculate the environmental footprint of the laptop in terms of global warming potential and resource depletion, not energy consumption. Nevertheless, the study is interesting for its detailed breakdown of components, with the display and the electronic circuits responsible for the largest environmental damage. The total impact for the Framework Laptop is estimated to be 200 kg CO2e. Almost 70% of this is due to the production phase.

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